GRE Subject Test: Literature in English : Literary Analysis of American Poetry Before 1925
Study concepts, example questions & explanations for GRE Subject Test: Literature in English
All GRE Subject Test: Literature in English Resources
Example Questions
Example Question #1 : Tone, Style, And Mood: Twentieth Century Poetry
A Late Walk
1 When I go up through the mowing field,
2 The headless aftermath,
3 Smooth-laid like thatch with the heavy dew,
4 Half closes the garden path.
5 And when I come to the garden ground,
6 The whir of sober birds
7 Up from the tangle of withered weeds
8 Is sadder than any words
9 A tree beside the wall stands bare,
10 But a leaf that lingered brown,
11 Disturbed, I doubt not, by my thought,
12 Comes softly rattling down.
13 I end not far from my going forth
14 By picking the faded blue
15 Of the last remaining aster flower
16 To carry again to you.
The tone of the poem can best be described as .
nostalgic
cavalier
irreverant
lighthearted
optimistic
nostalgic
The elegiac style of the poem, as it is literally about the passing of a growing season and the coming of winter, depicts nostalgia.
Example Question #2 : Context, Speaker, And Addressee: Poetry
A Late Walk
1 When I go up through the mowing field,
2 The headless aftermath,
3 Smooth-laid like thatch with the heavy dew,
4 Half closes the garden path.
5 And when I come to the garden ground,
6 The whir of sober birds
7 Up from the tangle of withered weeds
8 Is sadder than any words
9 A tree beside the wall stands bare,
10 But a leaf that lingered brown,
11 Disturbed, I doubt not, by my thought,
12 Comes softly rattling down.
13 I end not far from my going forth
14 By picking the faded blue
15 Of the last remaining aster flower
16 To carry again to you.
The speaker in the poem is very probably addressing .
an acquaintance
a loved one
a fellow veteran
a stranger
a legal adviser
a loved one
The speaker in the poem is very probably addressing a loved one as he picks "again" for him or her, in the last stanza, the last remaining aster flower.
Example Question #1 : Literary Analysis Of American Poetry
A Late Walk
1 When I go up through the mowing field,
2 The headless aftermath,
3 Smooth-laid like thatch with the heavy dew,
4 Half closes the garden path.
5 And when I come to the garden ground,
6 The whir of sober birds
7 Up from the tangle of withered weeds
8 Is sadder than any words
9 A tree beside the wall stands bare,
10 But a leaf that lingered brown,
11 Disturbed, I doubt not, by my thought,
12 Comes softly rattling down.
13 I end not far from my going forth
14 By picking the faded blue
15 Of the last remaining aster flower
16 To carry again to you.
The following is an example of alliteration:
"Smooth-laid like thatch" (line 3)
"sober birds" (line 6)
"withered weeds" (line 7)
"lingered brown" (line 10)
"sadder than any words" (line 8)
"withered weeds" (line 7)
"Withered weeds" (line 7) is an example of alliteration. Alliteration is the repetition of the same sounds at the beginning of words.
Example Question #11 : Literary Analysis Of Poetry
A Late Walk
1 When I go up through the mowing field,
2 The headless aftermath,
3 Smooth-laid like thatch with the heavy dew,
4 Half closes the garden path.
5 And when I come to the garden ground,
6 The whir of sober birds
7 Up from the tangle of withered weeds
8 Is sadder than any words
9 A tree beside the wall stands bare,
10 But a leaf that lingered brown,
11 Disturbed, I doubt not, by my thought,
12 Comes softly rattling down.
13 I end not far from my going forth
14 By picking the faded blue
15 Of the last remaining aster flower
16 To carry again to you.
The following connotes the imagery of warfare:
"Disturbed, I doubt not, by my thought," (line 11)
"The whir of sober birds" (line 6)
"headless aftermath" (line 2)
"the last remaining aster flower" (line 15)
"Comes softly rattling down." (line 12)
"headless aftermath" (line 2)
An aftermath is the consequence of a disaster, like a war. The imagery of "headless aftermath" implies a farmer who has, in some way, defeated the fields.
Example Question #12 : Literary Analysis Of Poetry
A Late Walk
1 When I go up through the mowing field,
2 The headless aftermath,
3 Smooth-laid like thatch with the heavy dew,
4 Half closes the garden path.
5 And when I come to the garden ground,
6 The whir of sober birds
7 Up from the tangle of withered weeds
8 Is sadder than any words
9 A tree beside the wall stands bare,
10 But a leaf that lingered brown,
11 Disturbed, I doubt not, by my thought,
12 Comes softly rattling down.
13 I end not far from my going forth
14 By picking the faded blue
15 Of the last remaining aster flower
16 To carry again to you.
The phrase "sober birds" (line 6) implies that even the birds are .
irresponsible about foraging
serious and sad about the changing season
playful to a fault
delusional about the encroaching severe weather
not intoxicated on drink
serious and sad about the changing season
The "sober birds" (line 6) are serious and sad. The poet, Robert Frost, even calls their busy "whir" (line 6) "sadder than any words" (line 8). Their sobriety indicates a clarity of vision and purpose in the face of winter.
Example Question #1 : Support And Evidence
A Late Walk
1 When I go up through the mowing field,
2 The headless aftermath,
3 Smooth-laid like thatch with the heavy dew,
4 Half closes the garden path.
5 And when I come to the garden ground,
6 The whir of sober birds
7 Up from the tangle of withered weeds
8 Is sadder than any words
9 A tree beside the wall stands bare,
10 But a leaf that lingered brown,
11 Disturbed, I doubt not, by my thought,
12 Comes softly rattling down.
13 I end not far from my going forth
14 By picking the faded blue
15 Of the last remaining aster flower
16 To carry again to you.
If the speaker feels that his life is nearing an end, what most strongly makes that argument?
"The whir of sober birds" (line 6)
The leaf that "Comes softly rattling down" (line 12)
The speaker's going up "through the mowing field" (line 1)
"the tangle of withered weeds" (line 7)
The speaker's coming "to the garden ground" (line 5)
The leaf that "Comes softly rattling down" (line 12)
The lingering brown leaf that "Comes softly rattling down" (line 12) from the bare standing tree connotes more than the other choices that the speaker might believe his life is nearing an end (i.e., it is falling like the last leaf of Autumn).
Example Question #2 : Other Content Analysis Questions
A Late Walk
1 When I go up through the mowing field,
2 The headless aftermath,
3 Smooth-laid like thatch with the heavy dew,
4 Half closes the garden path.
5 And when I come to the garden ground,
6 The whir of sober birds
7 Up from the tangle of withered weeds
8 Is sadder than any words
9 A tree beside the wall stands bare,
10 But a leaf that lingered brown,
11 Disturbed, I doubt not, by my thought,
12 Comes softly rattling down.
13 I end not far from my going forth
14 By picking the faded blue
15 Of the last remaining aster flower
16 To carry again to you.
What does the speaker believe caused the "leaf that lingered brown" (line 10) to come "softly rattling down" (line 12)?
The wind
The leaf's own wishes
His thoughts
A squirrel
The shivering tree
His thoughts
In line 11, the speaker expresses the belief that it fell as a result of his thoughts: "Disturbed, I doubt not, by my thought."
Example Question #1 : Figurative Language
A Late Walk
1 When I go up through the mowing field,
2 The headless aftermath,
3 Smooth-laid like thatch with the heavy dew,
4 Half closes the garden path.
5 And when I come to the garden ground,
6 The whir of sober birds
7 Up from the tangle of withered weeds
8 Is sadder than any words
9 A tree beside the wall stands bare,
10 But a leaf that lingered brown,
11 Disturbed, I doubt not, by my thought,
12 Comes softly rattling down.
13 I end not far from my going forth
14 By picking the faded blue
15 Of the last remaining aster flower
16 To carry again to you.
Which of the following is a simile?
"The headless aftermath," (line 2)
"sadder than any words" (line 8)
"the wall stands bare," (line 9)
"Smooth-laid like thatch" (line 3)
"the tangle of withered weeds" (line 7)
"Smooth-laid like thatch" (line 3)
"Smooth-laid like thatch" (line 3) is the simile; a simile is a figure pf speech in which two seemingly unlike things are compared using "like" or "as." Usually the words indicate two things that have some similar quality, however, although this may not be immediately evident. In this instance, the "mowing field" (line 1) is like "thatch" (line 3).
Example Question #1 : Word Choice And Connotation: Poetry
A Late Walk
1 When I go up through the mowing field,
2 The headless aftermath,
3 Smooth-laid like thatch with the heavy dew,
4 Half closes the garden path.
5 And when I come to the garden ground,
6 The whir of sober birds
7 Up from the tangle of withered weeds
8 Is sadder than any words
9 A tree beside the wall stands bare,
10 But a leaf that lingered brown,
11 Disturbed, I doubt not, by my thought,
12 Comes softly rattling down.
13 I end not far from my going forth
14 By picking the faded blue
15 Of the last remaining aster flower
16 To carry again to you.
In line 14, the adjective "faded" contributes to what?
The speaker's symbolic rebirth
The elegiac style of the poem
The abundance of nature imagery in the poem
The pastoral character of the poem
The lightheartedness of the poem
The elegiac style of the poem
The "faded blue" of line 14 contributes to the poems overall elegiac style (that is, its mournful design). For the speaker, even the blue of the aster flower has been dulled.
Example Question #1 : Theme: Poetry
A Late Walk
1 When I go up through the mowing field,
2 The headless aftermath,
3 Smooth-laid like thatch with the heavy dew,
4 Half closes the garden path.
5 And when I come to the garden ground,
6 The whir of sober birds
7 Up from the tangle of withered weeds
8 Is sadder than any words
9 A tree beside the wall stands bare,
10 But a leaf that lingered brown,
11 Disturbed, I doubt not, by my thought,
12 Comes softly rattling down.
13 I end not far from my going forth
14 By picking the faded blue
15 Of the last remaining aster flower
16 To carry again to you.
One theme of the poem is .
spring will always return
the life of the farmer is better than the urbanite's
the passing of time is something sorrowful
romantic habits are pointless
human beings are the only creatures burdened by time
the passing of time is something sorrowful
One theme of the poem is the passing of time is something sorrwoful, as the poem treats the arrival of winter with weighty vocabulary ("withered weeds"), despondent imagery (such as a falling leaf), and straight-forwardly states that the business of "sober birds" is "sadder than any words."
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